Runaway Adventures
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: 11-year-old Harry decides to follow Hagrid straight to Hogwarts, where he discovers a unique method of hiding in the castle that leads to unexpected consequences. Completely AU, mentioning of abuse!Dursleys. Set before Harry's first Hogwarts year.


**_Runaway Adventures_**  
><strong><em>by Healer Pomfrey<em>**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
>I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.<em>

* * *

><p>"Okay Harry, I'll see you in four weeks' time," Hagrid said, gently patting the boy's shoulder. "I mus be gettin back to Hogwarts. Prefessor Dumbledore is awaitin on me."<p>

Harry quickly let his eyes wander around the neighbourhood, thinking '_No, I really don't want to return to the Dursleys_'_. They will be so angry about Dudley's pig's tail, and who knows what they'd do with my school books and all the other items we bought, not to mention Hedwig? I'd like to go to Hogwarts right away_.' Seeing that Hagrid had pulled out his umbrella, he jumped forward, quickly grabbing the half-giant's arm, right before Hagrid apparated away.

An instant later, the movement, which already felt familiar to Harry, stopped, and he found himself next to the half-giant on the edge of a small road.

"Harry, wha're you doing here?" Hagrid queried, glaring at the boy in apparent shock. "You can't come to Hogwarts now... only when the new school year begins."

"I'm sorry, Hagrid," Harry said quietly, averting his eyes to the ground. "Please don't tell anyone about it. I'm going to hide until the beginning of the school year. I don't want to return to the Dursleys'. I promise I won't be in your way..."

"Harry," Hagrid interrupted him, sighing. "It's not a matter of being in anyone's way. It's just that students aren't allowed to remain at Hogwarts during the summer, and that Prefessor Dumbledore always said you had to stay with your relatives." Seeing that Harry looked at him questioningly, he explained, "Prefessor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey have tried to convince him abou' takin you away from the Dursleys many times, but he never gave in. Oh well, hide behind my back, while we walk up to the castle, and remain in my hut. While I talk with the Headmaster, I'll think about what to do."

Protected from sight by the half-giant's huge figure, Harry hurried behind the man, who kindly cast a shrinking charm at his luggage. '_Hogwarts is so big with all its huge towers_,' he thought, amazed.

"Wait inside," Hagrid instructed him, when they reached a hut at the edge of the forest. The wizard opened the door and introduced Harry to a large dog. "This is Fang, my familiar. Don' be afraid, lil' one; he is very good minded." With that the half-giant hurried away towards the castle.

Harry curiously let his eyes wander around the hut, which looked very full with old furniture and all kinds of interesting items, which Harry had never seen before. '_This place is gorgeous_,' he thought; however, after a few minutes, he made a decision. '_Hagrid was so kind to me. He is the first friend I ever had, and I really don't want him to get into trouble with the Headmaster because of me. I'm going to hide. It's only four weeks, and I'm going to be a student here anyway._'

With that Harry carefully opened the door and stepped outside, wondering if he should try to hide in the castle or rather in the forest. Finally, he decided to go and explore Hogwarts. He ran towards the huge entrance doors and carefully entered the castle, glad that he did not meet anyone on the way. Completely amazed by the size of the entrance hall, Harry chose the grand staircase, which he climbed up to the second floor, where he entered a corridor. All of a sudden, a voice called out to him.

"Hello little one, what are you doing here in the middle of the summer holidays?"

Harry looked around in shock; however, he could not see anyone, before his eyes fell on a painting on the right hand side, where a group of people were having a picnic.

"Edward, you're confusing the boy," a middle aged woman scolded the man, who had addressed Harry. "It's obviously his first visit to Hogwarts. Hello my boy. You look like the spitting image of your father."

"You knew my father?" Harry asked curiously, staring at the painting with interest.

One of the wizards began to chuckle. "Who did not know your father? He often roamed the halls, and he and his friends were well known for their mischief."

"Why don't you join us for our picnic?" Edward asked, chuckling as well.

'_Join them? How nice of them to invite me_,' Harry thought in confusion, licking his lips as the picnic indeed looked very inviting. '_But how can I get into the painting? Is that possible at all?_' he wondered.

Before Harry knew what happened, his unconsciously cast wish magic worked, and he found himself sitting in the grass next to Edward and his wife, who introduced herself as Angela. During the picnic, Harry learned that all the other wizards had at some time lived at Hogwarts and that they could move around freely within the paintings all over Hogwarts, but that they were not able to leave the paintings.

"It is a very rare ability for wizards and witches to be able to enter paintings," Angela informed him. "Now will you tell us what you're doing here in the castle in the middle of the holidays?"

Harry hesitantly told the friendly witch about his home life and what he had heard from Hagrid earlier, causing the people in the painting to change the picnic scene into one of a huge birthday party.

"Don't worry, Harry," Angela said kindly. "You may remain with us until the end of the holidays. Just always stay a little in the background, so that the teachers and especially the Headmaster won't see you, then it'll be all right. Tomorrow, Edward and I are going to show you the castle."

HP

Seeing that everyone chose random places to sleep, either seated or lying down, Harry followed their example, thinking that it was at least warm and not cold and windy like on the small island, where he had spent the last night with the Dursleys. In the morning, however, he felt the urge to relieve himself and hesitantly addressed Angela.

"Oh I'm so sorry, my dear, I didn't even think about the fact that you're still alive and have certain needs," she said, apologetically. "Let me take you to Rowena. She is very kind, and maybe she'll allow you to use her bathroom."

Angela motioned him to follow her and hurriedly left the painting. They crossed several other paintings, where Angela either mumbled a hasty "Good morning" or promised to come back and introduce Harry later on.

Finally, they reached a portrait in a small room that looked like an office. To Harry's surprise, the lady in the portrait looked very different from everyone else. While all the wizards and witches, whom he had met at Hogwarts, were wearing robes that covered everything from the medieval to modern age, the style of Rowena's clothes seemed very ancient. '_She is beautiful_,' Harry thought, staring at the witch in absolute amazement.

"Harry, this is Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the four friends, who founded Hogwarts about one thousand years ago," Angela introduced him.

"Thank you, Angela, for taking care of Harry," Rowena said thoughtfully. "He is a very special boy." Seeing that Harry looked at her questioningly, she added, "I am a Seer."

Apparently realising that Rowena seemed not inclined to reveal any further details, Angela explained the reason for their visit.

Rowena chuckled. "Of course, Harry. You may come and use my bathroom and also my bedroom at any time if you wish," she said gently, smiling at Harry. "Now let me ensure that you can get out of the painting and come back in afterwards. Take your time though."

Harry gratefully left the painting and hesitantly stepped through the door, at which Rowena pointed. "Here to the left hand side is the bathroom. Don't worry, the house-elves have equipped it with modern devices just a few years ago," said Rowena, who was now looking at him from a different painting in the living room.

Harry profusely thanked the Founder. '_Everyone is so friendly here_,' he thought as he entered the bathroom. '_I really like Hogwarts. I just hope Hagrid didn't search for me, when he noticed that I was gone yesterday_.'

When Harry returned to Rowena's office after a long, hot shower, feeling very clean and refreshed, Angela was gone. However, before he could worry about how to get back to the painting with the picnic and his new friends, Rowena motioned him to enter her portrait. "I'm going to take you to my husband, Godric. As far as I know, you're a direct descendant of his brother and as such his heir. I'm sure that he'll be very pleased to meet you."

Harry could not help admiring the Founder as he followed her through dozens of paintings, before they reached a portrait that seemed to be guarding a door in one of the halls. '_Her dark blue robes with the yellow stars and black ravens are very pretty_,' he thought.

"This is my husband, Godric," Rowena introduced the wizard. "Godric, this is the boy, of whom I've told you a very long time ago. He is spending the weeks until the beginning of the school year in paintings, so I think we ought to use this time to teach him some essential knowledge." To Harry she said, "Please get to know our two friends Helga and Salazar as well, and come back to see me at any time. Don't let Godric or Salazar talk you into any pranks. They do nonsense all the time, especially when they're together. Always ask Helga or me before doing anything that they tell you."

To Harry, Godric looked like a school boy, who had just been scolded by his teacher. However, as soon as his wife left the portrait, he chuckled. "A prank? That makes it sound so frivolous. No Harry, what I'm going to teach you is true knowledge for life. Come on, let me show you the staff room."

Harry hesitantly followed the Founder, who was still chuckling in apparent anticipation.

HP

To Harry's surprise, Godric led him into a completely vacated painting. "Usually, no one is here. We only come here for staff meetings," he told Harry. "Now I suppose you're able to leave any painting at any time, right?" Seeing Harry nod in confusion, he continued, "Well then, step out and wave your wand, casting the spell, which I'm going to teach you now."

Harry swallowed, looking at the Founder in shock. "Excuse me, sir," he said hesitantly, "I only received my wand yesterday, and I've never cast any spell yet."

Godric rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're my heir and can't do magic. Give me your wand."

During the next hour, Godric meticulously taught him how to wave his wand along with a long incantation. After Harry had practised several dozen times, he instructed him to leave the painting and cast the spell.

"Excuse me, sir, but is it not possible to do magic from here?" he asked in confusion. _'I thought it worked. Last night, Angela borrowed my wand to do something to one of the men in the painting_,' he mused.

"No, child. You can only, for example, cast spells at me or at other people in paintings, but not at the real world outside this frame," Godric explained, patiently.

The thought '_What does this spell do at all_?' crossed Harry's mind; however, he dismissed it and proceeded to do as the Founder demanded. Like Godric had instructed him, he consecutively pointed his wand at each of the chairs, before he spoke the incantation after the Founder. '_Thank Merlin he helps me_,' he thought. '_I'd never have been able to remember all these strange words_.'

Only when he returned into the painting, feeling very happy when Godric commended him gently, he asked curiously, "Excuse me, sir, but what does this spell do?"

Godric cast him an amused look, before he replied, "Remember, child, don't ever cast a spell, of which you don't know what it does, whoever tells you to do it. Oh well, this is just some very harmless yet entertaining piece of magic." Seeing that Harry looked at him, seemingly terrified, he continued, "It will only affect those sitting on any of the chairs, and makes everyone, who says the word "lesson", cluck like a chicken. However, the person saying the word won't notice, only everyone else will hear it. Can you imagine how much fun we're going to have, when the teachers discuss their lesson plans for the new school year? Thank you Harry; I'll be forever grateful for that."

Harry chuckled. "I wished I could observe the next staff meeting," he said, before he remembered to ask, "They won't know that it was me, who cast the spell, right?"

"No, child, they won't, especially since no one knows about your presence here in the castle," Godric said soothingly and promised, "Provided that we know where to find you, we can call you on time for the big event. You just have to hide behind the four of us, so that none of the teachers can see you."

"Oh that would be so cool," Harry said gratefully. "Thank you very much."

"Now I'm going to take you to Salazar," Godric replied, and his eyes were twinkling happily. "I can't wait to tell him about your first magical adventure. He is responsible for the Slytherin Head, so we have to endure the darkness of the dungeons to visit him. Alas I prefer the brightness and warmth of the Gryffindor tower, where I'm responsible for the entrance door of the Deputy Headmistress' private quarters. If you ask me it's a much better place than the bedroom of an always grumpy Potions Master. Try to stay in the back in case that he is in his bedroom. As far as I heard, he caught the grindylow pox a few days ago, so he might be resting."

HP

To Harry's relief, the large bed was unoccupied, and he listened with amusement, when Godric excitedly told his friend about the prank that he and Harry had played the teachers. '_Of course that was a prank_,' Harry thought grimly, only now remembering Rowena's warning. '_But it was much fun, and I hope I'll be able to observe the staff meeting_.'

Finally, Godric excused himself, instructing Harry to come and visit him again later on. "So you're Potter," Salazar said, seemingly more to himself than to Harry. "Your father was Severus' greatest enemy, while your mother was his best friend."

"Severus? My parents?" Harry asked in confusion.

Salazar quirked an eyebrow. "Severus as in Severus Snape, the most famous Potions Master after myself. You just find yourself in his bedroom. He attended Hogwarts together with your parents."

"My parents?" Harry repeated, eagerly. "Do you know my parents, sir?"

"Oh well, they called Hogwarts their home for seven years. How would I not know them? Apart from that, your mother was a brilliant witch and excellent at Potions. Even now I often have the most interesting conversations with her."

"Conversations with my mother? Is she here in a painting as well?" Harry queried, suddenly getting very excited. '_It would be too cool if I could meet my mom here_,' he thought, staring at the Founder in disbelief, when the man nodded.

"Over there," Salazar informed him, pointing to the night table next to the bed.

Harry saw the portrait of a young lady in a photo frame. '_My mom_,' he thought, incredulously. Without any further thinking, he jumped out of the painting and stepped around the bed, kneeling in front of the night table.

"Mom?" he asked, eyeing the witch in the frame with a mixture of interest and disbelief. '_I can talk to my Mom; that's awesome_,' he thought, suddenly feeling happier than he had ever felt before.

"Harry – my baby!" Lily gasped, staring at the boy in shock for an instant, before her lips stretched to a smile. "Oh my, you've become such a fine, big boy. What are you doing here in Severus' bedroom though?"

Harry quickly explained how he had come to Hogwarts. "I'm so happy to see you, Mom. You died when I was a baby, and I can't remember anything of that time," he said, taking the frame into his hands, before he absentmindedly took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"I know the whole story, Harry; Severus told me everything," Lily said, giving her son a sad look. "However, you can't stay here. Severus can come back here any minute. Go back to the painting with the picnic, and I'll come and meet you there. Now we have all the time in the world to be together, at least in paintings. I had hoped to meet you when you were coming to Hogwarts, but I could have never imagined that you'd be able to come into pictures. That's great, sweetie. I love you so much, and I missed you terribly all these years."

Before Harry could voice any reply, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the corridor. He hurriedly replaced his mother's photo frame on the night table and was about to rush back to Salazar's portrait, when he accidentally bumped against the night table, causing a small phial to tilt and pour its contents over his hands and arms.

"Oh no, Harry, that's not good," his mother said worriedly. "Get back into Salazar's painting, stay in the back and wait for me."

'_Oh no_,' Harry thought, horrified. '_What did I do now?_' He hurriedly jumped into the picture, while Lily called Cicero, the Potions Master's private house-elf and asked him to replace the now empty phial with a half full one.

"What's that?" Harry asked, curiously, causing Salazar to let out a snort.

"A house-elf," he sneered. "However, that's going to be a minor problem of yours compared to the fact that you're probably going to catch the grindylow pox."

"The what?" Harry asked, horrified, wondering why people would have such dangerous liquids on their night tables.

"The potion that you wasted is a very valuable remedy for the grindylow pox; however, used without without reasonable cause, it can have the opposite effect," Salazar replied, just when Lily joined the two wizards in the painting.

"Harry, come with me. I'm going to take you to Helga Hufflepuff, the Healer among the Founders of Hogwarts. Either she or Madam Pomfrey will be able to help you," Lily said, her voice laced with concern, as she pulled Harry into a bear hug.

"I'm sorry, Mom, for causing so much trouble," Harry said apologetically. '_Now I finally met my mother, and then I make such a mess. She will be so angry_,' he thought, terrified.

Soon they reached another portrait, which was located in an office like that of Rowena Ravenclaw. A witch, who was wearing ancient looking robes like Rowena, looked at them in surprise.

"Lily, how nice of you to pay me a visit," she said pleasantly. "And you must be Harry. Rowena already told me of you. Welcome to Hogwarts, child."

"Thank you," Harry replied in a barely audible voice, shyly averting his eyes to the floor.

Lily quickly filled the Founder in about Harry's accident, causing Helga to frown. "Do you have a wand?" she asked, giving Harry a stern look.

"Yes Mam," Harry said quietly, holding out his wand to the witch.

An instant later, Harry felt a tingling sensation run up and down his body.

"So far you did not catch the pox," Helga said thoughtfully, before her expression became stern, as she continued to wave her wand. "Harry, what happened to you?" she then asked, incredulously.

"What's wrong?" Lily enquired, looking from Harry to the ancient Healer in concern.

"Harry…" Helga began to reply but interrupted herself, seeing that Poppy Pomfrey entered her office, looking at the scene in the painting in displeasure.

"What happened, and where does that wand come from?" she asked sternly.

Harry found that he blushed terribly when Lily and Helga took turns explaining to the Healer about the circumstances of his presence at Hogwarts and in the witch's office. Finally, Madam Pomfrey turned to him.

"Harry," she said in a much friendlier voice. "Please follow Helga and your mother into my private quarters and then come out of the painting, so that I can check on you myself. I promise that I will keep your secret."

A few minutes later, Harry found himself sitting on an very cozy sofa in the Healer's living room. Like Helga had done before, Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over him, muttering to herself in clear displeasure.

"As Professor Hufflepuff said, you probably did not catch the grindylow pox from Professor Snape, at least nothing shows up yet. Just to be sure though, I will give you a preventive potion, which also works as an antidote," she said kindly. "However, several of your bones seem to have been broken and improperly healed. How could that happen? Did your relatives not take you to a Healer or a doctor when you had an accident or even just for a check-up?"

"No Mam; never," Harry replied quietly. "Everything just always went away by itself."

"Knowing Petunia, she certainly didn't treat Harry well," Lily threw in, angrily. "I can't believe that Dumbledore made Harry grow up there. I wished I could cast a proper spell at the Headmaster."

"In any case, I will report the Dursleys to the Ministry of Magic for child abuse," Madam Pomfrey said firmly. "However, in order to not give Harry away, I better wait until the beginning of the school year."

"Ah, I wished there was a way that I could leave the paintings and get into the real world, even if only for a few hours," Lily exclaimed, letting out a deep sigh.

"I believe that there is a way," Helga threw in, thoughtfully. "Rowena knows a spell I think. She only can't cast it due to the lack of a wand. But if she had Harry's wand..." She interrupted herself and dashed away only to return with Rowena in tow a moment later.

"Harry, can you come with me to my office and fetch my wand for me?" Rowena addressed the boy, who cast Madam Pomfrey a questioning look.

"It's all right, Harry, go with Rowena," Poppy said kindly, before she turned to the Founders. "Please be careful and don't let the Headmaster or any of the other professors see that you have a wand."

"Of course not," Rowena replied, smiling.

A few minutes later, she and Harry were back in the painting.

"Now Lily, do you know exactly what you want to do during that hour?" Pomfrey asked in a no-nonsense voice, seeing that the Founder pointed her wand at Lily.

"Yes," Lily replied firmly. "Harry, may I borrow your wand please?"

"Of course," Harry said, like in a trance observing how Lily stepped out of the painting. He hurriedly followed her, ending up in another bear hug.

"Poppy, please heal Harry. I'll be back soon," Lily said, quickly pocketing Harry's wand, before she stepped into the fireplace, shouting, "Ministry of Magic."

'_What is she going to do? Everyone knows that she's dead. How will people react when they see her?_' Harry thought in concern.

However, almost an hour later, Lily returned through the empty hospital wing, looking very contented.

She pressed a parchment into Poppy's hand. "Poppy, will you please sign this in order to become Harry's guardian? As you can see, I already received the signatures of my sister and Professor Dumbledore."

With that Lily stepped back into the painting. The Healer stared at the younger witch in disbelief, causing Lily to laugh. "Dumbledore should only be able to remember that he agreed but not the circumstances."

"Well, it's not for nothing that you're a Mistress of Charms," Pomfrey replied, smiling. "Can you promise me that you did not cast any unforgiveable spells with Harry's wand?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course not. I wouldn't want to get Harry into trouble. I merely charmed a parchment to look like an order for lemon drops and went to obtain Professor Dumbledore's signature. As for my sister and her annoying family..." She paused, unable to stop herself from chuckling upon remembering the sight. "They are now happily roaming the garden as cockroaches."

Harry stared at his mother in amazement, when she pulled a wand. "I also went to Godric's Hollow and retrieved my own wand. It works better for me than Harry's," she explained, smirking.

Shaking her head in a mixture of disapproval and amazement, the Healer signed the parchment, which immediately rolled up itself and vanished into thin air.

"Very well then, Harry," she said kindly, "I'm going to call Misty, my personal house-elf, and ask her to make a room for you here in my quarters."

'_My own room?_' Harry thought, excitedly, when he looked around his new room an hour later. However, before he could thank the Healer and voice his content, the fireplace in Pomfrey's living room flared. He hurriedly jumped back into the painting and hid behind his mother, not a moment too early, because just then Professor McGonagall stepped out of Floo to call her colleague for an immediate staff meeting. An instant later, Godric Gryffindor entered their painting to fetch Helga, Lily and Harry for the same event.

With mixed feelings, Harry followed the Founders and his mother through the paintings. On the one hand, he couldn't wait to observe the meeting, on the other hand, he was worried that any of the teachers might detect his presence or even worse could discover that it was him who had played the prank on the staff room.

HP

As soon as everyone was seated, the Headmaster began to speak. "I'm sorry for calling you all here so urgently," he said, slowly popping a lemon drop into his mouth. Letting out a long sigh, he continued, "I just received this parchment from the Ministry of Magic." He showed his colleagues the guardianship parchment, which Poppy had signed shortly before. "I can't recall agreeing to this, but I remember that someone was in my office and probably put me under the Imperius Charm."

"Who was it?" McGonagall asked in clear disbelief.

Dumbledore sighed again. "She looked like Lily, Harry's mother."

"How can a dead person come and put you under the Imperius Charm?" McGonagall asked briskly.

"Lily definitely can't," Professor Snape threw in. "What nonsense. Oh and Poppy is definitely a better guardian than Petunia Dursley."

"Thank you, Severus, but that compliment does not make me forget the fact that I did not allow you out of bed yet," Poppy said sternly.

"I thought that we had more important matters to discuss like the lesson plans," Snape countered, barely able to pronounce the last word, before he began to cluck uncontrollably.

"Severus, are you all right?" McGonagall asked in concern. "I think it's a good idea to speak earlier about the lesson plans."

Harry could barely suppress a chuckle, when the older, stern looking witch also began to cluck.

Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "I believe that I'm getting too old for all this. Minerva, please take over as my successor from the new school year onwards. I'm going to retire as of today."

"If he only knew what people in portraits were capable of," Lily whispered to Harry, fondly ruffling her son's hair. "I love you, my baby."

"Love you too, Mum," Harry whispered back, happily leaning into his mother's embrace.

**The End  
><strong>(probably... I am thinking about continuing it... but considering all of my unfinished stories... :P)

_A huge thanks to my kind Facebook friends for their support..._


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